Life Being What It Is
by Spike'sSavior
Summary: One year after the departure of Donna Noble, the Doctor finds himself at Princeton-Plainsboro where doctors are going missing. As the Doctor tries to unravel the mystery and save the world, he may just discover a new companion and reunite with an old one
1. Chapter 1 Year of Meteors

Hey guys. This is a Doctor Who/House/Torchwood x-over and I hope you guys like it. It's going to be a Chase/Jack Harkness pairing with mentions of Doctor/Rose and Chase/Cameron. Anyway here's chapter 1 so please review.

* * *

"House!" the older doctor groaned and slowly turned around to face a frustrated looking Cuddy. "Ah, Dr. Cuddy how may I help you this lovely morning?" House asked.

"You've got a case," Cuddy said as she shoved a file into his hand. House frowned before flipping the file open and taking a look at its contents. "Hmm, I'm just going to take a stab in the dark here but I'm going to have to say…flu," House said wondering why Cuddy would be handing him such an easy case.

"Great, now take all of these," Cuddy said as she grabbed a stack of files off of the nurse's station and held them out to the older man. House raised an eyebrow and began to back away slowly from Cuddy wondering what evil plan the director had in store involving him.

"House, I'm not in the mood, now take these and get to work," Cuddy said. "You want me to take on boring cases?" House asked feeling offended. "House, we have eight doctors that have gone missing in the last three weeks and we are far behind so you either take these or do clinic duty for the rest of your life," Cuddy all but growled.

"Eight now, it was five last time I checked," House mumbled as he looked down at the files that Cuddy held out for him.

"Yes eight, there hasn't been any sign of them, they've just vanished," Cuddy said and House thought he heard worry in her voice.

House grabbed the files and tucked them under his arms before he turned and hit the elevator button with the end of his cane.

"Well I'm sure they'll turn up somewhere," House said.

"That's what I'm afraid of," he heard Cuddy mumble as the elevator door slid closed.

* * *

The Doctor picked himself off of the grated floor of the TARDIS console room and ran over to the monitor. He had been trying to go to 23rd century Tokyo but the TARDIS apparently had other plans. "21st century Princeton, New Jersey, how the hell did we get here?" he asked, looking up only to find no one there. His face fell slightly as he remembered that he was alone. It had been a year since he had wiped Donna Noble's memory and had taken the mind of the Time Lords out of her. He still hadn't had the courage to invite anyone else to come with him. There had been many that he had considered but somewhere deep inside of him he knew that they weren't right to be his companion.

He shook his head, trying to rid himself of bad memories as he bounded over to the door and took a peek outside. He was in a closet of some sorts, but he couldn't tell exactly where he was by its contents. There were only cleaning supplies around him and even though there was nothing inherently exciting about his surroundings, the TARDIS had brought him here and he was curious as to why.

Locking the TARDIS he made his way out of the closet and into a brightly lit hallway. People were bustling by him in scrubs and crisp white lab coats and he smiled as he realized he was in a hospital and he couldn't help but think about Martha. He quickly pushed the thought of her aside and he made a mental note not to think about the past anymore.

The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and as subtly as he could, locked the janitor closet door so that no one but him could enter. Tucking the sonic device back into his coat pocket he strode away down the hall. No one took notice of him, the hospital employee's were running about in a somewhat panicked and worried state and the Time Lord wondered what had gotten everyone so flustered.

"Did you hear," the Doctor heard someone say in a hushed tone. He slowed his walk and listened to the group of nurses who had gathered together. "Doctor Freeman went missing yesterday."

"Doctor Freeman?" one of the nurses asked.

"That makes eight doctors now that have gone missing," another nurse said.

'Eight doctors missing?' the Doctor thought to himself. He made his way over to the nurses.

"Hello there," he said smiling widely.

The nurses turned their attention on him, "Hello, who are you?" a female nurse asked.

"Doctor John Smith," the Doctor said as he brought out his psychic paper.

"You've come to help with the case load?" one asked.

"Yes I have," the Doctor lied. "I was wondering if you could direct me towards the hospital director."

"Well Dr. Cuddy is really busy right now but she has Doctor House handling most of the cases so you'll probably want to talk to him."

"And Dr. House would be?" he asked.

"A complete ass," he heard one of the nurses mumble but he was interrupted before he could comment.

"He's on the fourth floor; he's head of the Diagnostics Department."

The Doctor nodded his head and thanked them before heading off towards the elevators at the end of the hall. Eight doctors missing, no wonder the TARDIS had brought him here in the first place. He hoped he could do something to help and he hoped the Dr. House could help give him some answers as to what was going on.

* * *

"We have all of these cases?" Foreman asked.

"Unfortunately yes," House grumbled as he popped a vicodin into his mouth. "Mistress Cuddy has spoken and until these eight doctors drag their happy asses back from their impromptu vacations, we're in charge of all of these people, yippee."

"Great, I've run out of crossword puzzles anyway," Chase said as he stood and went over to pour himself a cup of coffee.

Cameron reached out and grabbed one of the files from the stack and flipped through it. "We could solve most of these today if they're as simple as this," she said.

"Oh look at all of you, saving lives and making a difference, brilliant."

The four looked over to see a thin man in a brown suit and coat with bed head and glasses smiling at them.

"Who the hell are you?" House asked.

"Doctor John Smith," he said as he took out his psychic paper and flashed it at them for a second before shoving it back into his pocket.

"John Smith?" Foreman asked incredulously.

"Yup, that's me, hello," the Doctor said as he waved at the group. "I've come to help out."

House eyed him suspiciously "What are you a doctor of?"

"Everything," the Doctor said simply.

"Everything?" Cameron asked wondering who this man was and what he was playing at.

"Yup, and are we just going to continue repeating everything I say because I had a bad experience with that and it kinda…wierds me out now," the Doctor said remembering his time on the planet midnight.

"Alright fine, take a case," House said as he limped over to the table and tossed the Doctor a file. The Time Lord caught it easily and opened it, reading everything in seconds.

"I'm glad you came, we need any help we can get," Cameron said.

"Yea and I'm sure Chase would like to have some fellow English company," House said.

"I'm Australian," Chase replied blandly before looking back over at the mysterious Dr. John Smith. There was something different about the man that he couldn't quite put his finger on. He radiated genius but not in the way House did, the older diagnostician was rude when he demonstrated his intelligence but this man seemed to have a hyper energy genius that was rather refreshing after years of working with House.

"So, what's the story on all of these doctors going missing?" the Doctor asked without looking up from his eighth file.

"What does it matter?" House asked as he drew a score board on the white board. The Doctor noticed that his alias name had been placed on the board as well.

The Doctor looked up and took off his glasses. "Well nothing really, just wanted to know just in case I go missing as well."

"No one really knows what happens to them, just that they're there one second and then gone the next," Chase explained.

"The police have any leads?" he asked.

"None," Chase replied and the Doctor nodded his head. "Well that's interesting, do any of these doctors have anything in common?"

"What the hell does it matter, you came to help out so help out and stop wasting our time," House said irately.

The Doctor ignored him and looked over at Chase who was the only one that seemed to want to answer him.

"Other than working here, there's no connection at all, they all have different specialties and work in different parts of the hospital," Chase said.

"And what do you think is going on?" the Doctor asked the Australian.

"What part of get to work do you Brit's not understand, or is tea time already?" House grumbled.

Chase looked over at House before looking back at the Doctor. He opened his mouth to reply when the hospital started to shake violently. Everyone scrambled to grab onto something sturdy to keep themselves from falling to the ground and the Doctor laughed.

"There we go, that's more like it," he said gleefully as he looked at Chase and the blond couldn't help but feel like his life was about to take a dramatic turn.


	2. Chapter 2 Curious Nature

Hey guys here's the next chapter. I hope you like it and I promise that Jack will be coming into the story soon.

* * *

"What the hell was that?" Foreman asked as the building settled once more. Cameron began to pick the things that had fallen off the table and shelves before placing them in their rightful places.

"Must have been an earthquake," House said as he popped another vicodin in his mouth.

Chase moved over to the window and looked outside, "Doesn't feel like any earthquake I've ever felt, this was different," the blond said as he looked out at the people who had been seemingly unaffected by the tremendous shaking of the hospital.

"Very good, what was your name?" the Doctor asked. Chase turned around "Robert Chase."

"Well Robert Chase, you're right, that wasn't an earthquake," the Doctor said.

"Well what was it?" Chase asked.

The Doctor grinned "Wanna find out?" Chase didn't look to House or the others, there was something about this man that made Chase trust him. He had barely known Dr. John Smith for a few minutes and he trusted him more than the others in Diagnostics.

Chase took a few steps forward and the Doctor turned to lead him out the glass double doors.

"Hey!" House called and Chase turned around abruptly. "Where the hell do you think you're going?"

"I wanna know what's going on," Chase said.

"It was an earthquake, Chase, get over it," House said. "No it wasn't," the Doctor said confidently over Chase's shoulder.

"Of course it was what else could do that?" Cameron said trying to be rational.

Chase looked over at the Doctor hoping he would answer as to what the shaking really was but all he said was "They're not allowed to come; they'll just slow us down."

With that the Doctor turned and walked out the doors. "Chase we need all the help we can get with these cases," Cameron said pleadingly.

"I'm sorry, I'll be back ok," Chase said before running out to follow the Doctor. House glared at the blonds' retreating form and wondered how this new doctor could take away his ass kissing Australian so quickly. It had taken him a week and a half to get Chase to beat Chase's self confidence down enough to where he would submit to anything he said.

Then this English twig comes rolling in and steals his trust in two minutes. Whoever Dr. John Smith was, he was very good, but House knew he was better.

* * *

"So do you know what's going on?" Chase asked as they jogged down the stairs to the basement.

"Nope, not a clue," the Doctor said and Chase thought he heard a bit of glee in the man's voice.

"Well that's comforting," Chase said but continued to follow the man down the stair well despite the hairs on the back of his neck standing on edge indicating that whatever was at the bottom of the stairs wasn't very friendly.

"You didn't come to help out did you?" Chase asked as they quickened their pace. The Doctor looked over his shoulder at the blond.

"Course I did, that's what I do," The Doctor replied.

"Maybe, but not to help because the doctors are going missing, you came because the doctors were going missing," Chase said as they finally reached the bottom.

The Doctor looked over at him "Are you always this perceptive?" he asked.

"I try," Chase said with a grin.

The Doctor nodded "Good, oh and by the way, my name isn't John Smith."

Chase frowned "So what is your name?"

"The Doctor."

"Just the Doctor?" Chase asked amused.

"Yup that's me," he said as he moved over to the basement door.

"Alright Doctor I have a feeling that whatever's behind that door isn't very nice," Chase said.

"You're probably right," The Doctor said, waiting for Chase to turn around and make his way back up the staircase.

"So what are we waiting for?" Chase asked.

The other man smirked and turned the knob and opened the basement door. The two made their way inside the vast room. There were spare hospital beds along one wall and a huge boiler along the other. The lights were flickering and it was hard for Chase to make out what was in the center of the room.

He took a step forward to get a better look. "Doctor, what is that?" Chase asked softly.

"That…seems to be an operating table," The Doctor replied as he moved to stand next to the human.

Chase's eyes widened as he saw something move slightly on the table. "Seems like the patient's still on the table as well," The Doctor said. Chase made to go towards the table to see if there was anything he could do but the Doctor held out his arm indicating that the Australian should stay where he was.

There was equipment all around the table, some of it Chase recognized and some others looked so out there he wondered if they had even been made by humans in the first place.

"Wanna go back?" The Doctor asked.

"No way," Chase said as he continued to look at the figure on the table.

Chase jumped slightly as a booming voice reverberated around the room in a language he couldn't even begin to place. The Doctor held up his hands and began to speak back in the same strange language and a door on the opposite wall and four large figures made their way into the large basement. The blond felt his stomach tighten in anticipation as the lights flickered and Chase saw the dark figures for a second. But that was all he needed to know that whoever the figures were they were not human. And that excited Chase to no end.


End file.
